Color Fields on the Light-Shell

TL;DR

This paper investigates classical color radiation in high-energy collisions, modeling the color fields as a non-linear sigma model on an expanding light-shell, and suggests its quantum version exhibits asymptotic freedom, useful for collider physics.

Contribution

It introduces a novel light-shell model for classical color fields and proposes its quantum counterpart as a framework for high-energy collider analysis.

Findings

Classical color fields confined to an expanding light-shell.

The quantum model exhibits asymptotic freedom.

Potential for an effective theory of jet structure at high energies.

Abstract

We study the classical color radiation from very high energy collisions that produce colored particles. In the extreme high energy limit, the classical color fields are confined to a light-shell expanding at $c$ and are associated with a non-linear $\sigma$-model on the 2D light-shell with specific symmetry breaking terms. We argue that the quantum version of this picture exhibits asymptotic freedom and may be a useful starting point for an effective light-shell theory of the structure between the jets at a very high energy collider.